"What the hell are you doing?" Carla shouted at Peter.
She was so angry but not at him more at herself for being so reckless.
How could she have let herself kiss him like that? and why didn't she have to sense to stop it from the moment that she knew it wasn't Nick?
Carla inhaled a deep breath and sincerely hoped that her senses would come back to her.
"What the hell am I doing? You're the one that kissed me sweetheart." Peter said. He was stood in a leather jacket a blue jeans, he was rather tanned given the fact he'd just flew back from the Caribbean. His hair was shorter than the last time he'd visited the street but, he still had his trademark beard that Carla had loved on him and his dark brown eyes were permanently focused on her. She shook her head in actual disbelief that any of this was happening but she stayed with her back pressed firmly against the wall behind her. "It was a nice welcome home all the same though."
"It wasn't meant to be a welcome home, I thought you were Nick." Carla said with a slight smirk. She watched him, she watched her cheating husband take in the news that she was now with his old rival and she waited with excited anticipation to see what Peter would say.
She waited for a reaction. She desperately wanted a reaction. She wanted him to hurt and maybe even cry.
"Nick?" He breathed, he was trying his very best not to look like he was affected by what she had just said but the images that were now running through his mind were tormenting him to no end. "And… why on earth would you be kissing Nick?"
"Well why not?" Carla grinned. She ran her pointy tongue over her bottom lip and stared Peter down confidently, enjoying this to no end.
Peter had two options…
One: Go and rip Nick's head off his shoulders for having the nerve to even go near Carla, or...
Two: Stay and pretend like he didn't give a toss about Nick.
He went for the latter option, mainly because he couldn't bare to walk away from Carla as she was looking absolutely stunning tonight and the mere sight of her almost made him twitch down below. She was dressed in a skin-tight black dress and a leather jacket. Her toned legs were bare and her hair was loose, flowing freely around her shoulders, her smouldering eyes were outlined in black as she stood before him and Peter took one last look up and down before speaking again.
"So is Nick your new bloke then?" He asked casually, still stood right in front of Carla, only inches away from her in fact.
Dangerously close and dangerously sexy.
"He sure is." Carla said smugly. She hoped that it hurt Peter when she said that, she really did, but Peter just let out a silent laugh and said,
"And I thought you couldn't sink any lower than me."
Wait a minute… was Peter really pretending that he was a better man than Nick? He had a lot of nerve, Carla would give him that.
She almost laughed at him but she couldn't quite do it because as he was lingering about in front of her, she guiltily remembered just how damn attractive she found him.
If there was one good thing about the fire in Carla's flat then it was the fact that she now had no photos of Peter what so ever.
Not one single photograph, not their wedding photo, no photo's from their holidays. Nothing.
Just like their relationship, all her photos had perished, so even if she had wanted to have a sneaky look at a picture of Peter she couldn't have.
It wasn't that Carla had forgotten what Peter looked like, it was more that she'd forgotten the hold that the man had on her, she almost forgotten that back in their relationship all he'd have to say was jump and she'd ask "How high?"
As she looked at his face, his arms, his legs, his entire stance, Carla knew that whilst Peter was emotionally flawed in many ways, his physical appearance still made her feel weak.
"Nick is a much better man than you…" Carla began confidently, but her confidence was short lived as Peter raised his eyebrows at her and put his head on one side.
"Is he now?" he said, almost mocking her.
"Yeah…" Carla replied but then she stopped as Peter grinned smugly at her, "What?"
"Oh do continue…" He said, "Tell me how Nick is better than me…" Carla rolled her eyes and tried to not be affected by how close Peter was stood. She looked around to see if anyone was watching, to see if anyone was nearby, to see if anyone could save her from this impossible situation but there was no one to be seen.
How did this happen? A second ago she was the smug one, she was enjoying flaunting the fact that she was with Nick in Peter's face and now she was feeling like an idiot, now she felt as if she needed actual help and fast.
Peter on the other hand was looking directly at Carla, She looked so angry, so enticing and so incredibly sexy that Peter bit down hard his lip just so he didn't lunge forward and senselessly kiss her again.
"I don't ave to tell you anythin, all you need to know is that I'm happy." Carla insisted but she had insisted it a little too much because all she got from Peter was another smirk.
"Is that so?" He said, His cockiness scarily alluring, making Carla feel seriously unsafe to be around him.
It wasn't Peter that she didn't trust… It was herself.
It was how horny she'd become over the course of the evening whilst lusting after Nick. It was the fact that even though she had a loving boyfriend like Nick, that she just couldn't keep her mind from imagining what it would be like for Peter to push her up against that wall again.
"Yeah it is, so let go of me." Carla said. She wanted those few words to have come out all firm and assertive but they still came out wobbly, almost nervous in fact.
Peter looked down at his chest and then back up at Carla with another smirk.
"I hate to break it to you darlin but you're the one who's got hold of me." Carla quickly looked down at her hands, which were both tightly grasped on to his leather jacket of their own accord.
Peter had been watching Carla closely since the moment they'd stopped kissing, he'd noticed how her breathing was becoming more and erratic as they spoke, that every time she finished a sentence she'd take a deep breath, like she needed to get some air.
He'd noticed how engaged Carla's pupils were and he'd also noticed the look of lust buried deep beneath those green eyes of hers.
These things that he had noticed were all tell tale signs of one thing, one thing that he was more than used to assisting Carla with.
Carla was horny and she knew by the amused look on Peter's face that he knew just how sexually frustrated she was.
She hated... detested... couldn't stand it how easily this man could work her out and yet here she was, still clutching onto him for dear life.
"Move." She said pushing right past him and walking towards her door.
"So I'm guessing this is where you live?" He said, watching Carla as she fumbled around in her bag to find her keys.
"Oooh there are no flies on you are there Peter?" Carla sarcastically called out, she finally found her keys buried amongst the endless crap she kept in her bag and breathed a huge sigh of relief.
Thank god she was almost away from him.
Almost.
"Doesn't Nick live in ere too?" Peter asked, Carla rolled her eyes at him and said,
"Yes. Yes he does and you better go because he not going to be happy if he sees you ere." Carla hadn't meant it to sound so threatening because she knew that that had also made it sound totally pathetic.
"Oooh I'm so scared." Peter said as Carla opened the door to her building.
She should have just gone straight into the building and left Peter there but it was like there was a huge magnet in between her and him and she quickly found herself turning back around.
She was drawn to him, like a moth to a flame and the worst part of it all was that she had already been burnt by this particular flame once before.
"What are you even doing ere? What happened to Antigua?"
"Who told you about Antigua?"
"Simon, now answer the question."
"I don't have to tell you anything." Peter replied still smirking and still unable to refrain from taking his eyes off Carla, who just didn't know what to do, she felt like she desperately needed to know why he was back, why he'd come and approached her when he didn't bother the last time he was in Weatherfield and she also wanted to know why he was slowly but surely closing the gap that was in between them.
"Y'know what Peter…" Carla sighed, "I don't know why on earth you are ere, In fact I don't even know why I'm still ere talking to you and I sure as hell don't know why I kissed you but what I do know, is that it was a mistake. You can't just show up here uninvited like this… I'm in a relationship now, I'm happy… Nick keeps me happy."
"Yeah so you said earlier…" Peter whispers, "Nick may keep you happy… But does he keep you satisfied?" Peter knew he was pushing it, he knew he was crossing the line but what Peter knew the most of all was that he truly didn't care.
"That…" Carla breathed, still letting her increasing desire for some physical interaction show, "Is none of your business."
Peter chuckled arrogantly and raised an eyebrow at Carla's response to his question.
"I'll take that as a no then." He said smugly.
"No, you should take that for what it is… None of your business." Carla said and she didn't know it at the time but she was now back where she had started, with her body pressed up against the wall behind her. "But just so you know… Nick keeps me more than satisfied." Carla felt like she had to add that last bit, it was only right, she had to at least stick up for Nick a little bit.
Peter still looked unconvinced, he moved even nearer to Carla and she pushed a hand against him to stop him from getting any closer.
"That's funny… You don't look satisfied." Peter said because even after all this time away from Carla, he knew just how turned on she was.
"Move." Carla said firmly.
"Once again… You're the one who has hold of me." Peter chuckled again and looked down at the grip that she once again had on him. She let go of him as he continued to speak. "Carla let's not forget me and you were married, still are married in fact… I know when you are sad, happy, scared and I know when you're in need… of a good… hard shag."
Peter's words sent another guilty thrill up Carla's spine.
She still hated him though. She hated him for knowing her so well and she really did try to make him think like she had changed, that her desires had changed. She was trying her hardest to remain strong and confident but her body trembled and the bottom half of it seemed to have a mind of its own because her hips were almost pushing them self forwards… towards Peter.
As her body continued to disobey her mind, Carla wondered if any of this truly was happening because she really didn't feel like herself right now, she felt enchanted, be-witched and completely under Peter Barlow's control.
He didn't seem quite like his normal self either, everything about him was enhanced, the brown in his eyes, his sexy smirk, his whole demeanour was just that little bit more confident, it was as if Peter was some sort of supernatural version of himself, one that Carla was ridiculously attracted to.
Surely this had to be some sort of twisted dream, surely he hadn't actually come back and Carla was sure that she would wake up in her bed any moment now.
"You don't know anything… You haven't been ere, you don't know me anymore Peter." She said.
"Oh come on Carla…" Peter breathed, "I'm the only one ere who knows you." He didn't even give Carla a chance to reply to him this time.
It was an exceptionally filthy kiss, the kind of kiss where Carla could almost taste the intentions that he had for her. He slid his tongue in her mouth but just for a second and then pulled it away, leaving her aching for more.
"I know every single... inch… of this body…" Peter said, gazing down at the thin black dress that seemed to be the only thing that was keeping him from touching Carla's soft skin. "And I know that it is just begging… for me to show it a good time." He brushed a finger across one of Carla's cheeks and then said, "but if Nick keeps you so satisfied then I'll leave you be..."
"Don't…" Carla said exasperatedly, her heart was pounding and even though she knew that this whole situation was wrong she still took hold of his jacket and said, "Don't you dare start something unless you're going to finish it." Peter stared deep into Carla's eyes and licked his lips. "I'm serious Peter… If you walk away from me right now… Don't you ever come back."
"Isn't that what you want?" Peter asked, "for me to never come back?" He stared at Carla intensely and still had a hand tucked behind her ear. Carla refused to answer him, she didn't want to be the one to admit anything real like that, she didn't want to betray Nick but then again... she also didn't want to see Peter go.
Peter on the other hand didn't want to do anything without Carla's say so, he wanted her to want him and want him bad. She didn't answer his question so he decided to see what she would do if he walked away from her.
It was a risk.
It was a risk because Peter was beginning to think that maybe Carla had changed after all, maybe he was reading all her signals wrong and maybe she really didn't want him after all, maybe him walking away from her like this was the end.
Walking away was a risk worth taking because at the sight of him leaving, Carla then called out after him...